Next for Nyad: 48-Hour Swim for Sandy Relief

Diana Nyad, positioned about two miles off Key West, Fla., swims towards the completion of her 111-mile trek from Cuba to the Florida Keys. (AP Photo/Florida Keys Bureau, Andy Newman, File)

(Newser)
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A month after her 53-hour swim from Cuba to the US, 64-year-old Diana Nyad is ready to get her feet wet again. Up next: a 48-hour swim to raise money for Hurricane Sandy recovery. "I'm from New York City and last year I was in town right after Sandy hit. ... You feel such tremendous compassion for people," she says, per CBS. "You might sit down and write a little check for disaster relief. ... And then it's not front page news and you forget about it. ... Well thousands of people haven't forgotten about it—Jersey Shore, Staten Island, Far Rockaway—all over New York and New Jersey."

Nyad won't have to worry about sharks and jellyfish for this one: she's doing the swim in a pool set up in New York's Herald Square. Over the 48 hours starting this Tuesday, she will swim roughly 96 miles—about the distance from Manhattan to Philadelphia. Joining Nyad in the pool at various points will be celebrities like swimmer Ryan Lochte and actor Joe Manganiello, plus Sandy victims, volunteers, and first responders, reports Newsday. "It's going to be a spectacular, fun event," she tells CBS. "For me, not so fun—48 hours I take seriously." (Read more Hurricane Sandy stories.)